May 8, 2017 at 1:20 p.m.
Hodag track sets personal records at Otto Bacher
Hodag track sets personal records at Otto Bacher
The invitational featured some of the top teams in the region and the Hodags held their own.
"I think it makes them more hungry," RHS head coach Chris Ferge said. "It's a new track and the atmosphere, being outside under the lights and going against really quality competition. There are people here that are going to go to state or even compete in state and do very well so they know if they are in running with those kinds of athletes, that they are capable of doing quite a bit."
Boys'
While the boys' team finished eighth, some individuals had strong showings.
The sprints were a particular area of success for Rhinelander.
The meet was highlighted by a third-place finish by Daniel Ritchie in the 400-meter dash with a time of 58.35 seconds.
The 4x100 relay team - consisting of Nick Kriesel, Josh Francisco, Drake Martin and Chase Hunt - placed fourth with a time of 47.66 seconds.
Francisco (11.98) and Kriesel (12.14) also had strong individual performances in the 100 meters, finishing sixth and seventh respectively.
Alex Monk also placed fifth in the 110 hurdles with a time of 19.09.
In field events, A.J. Kopplin leaped 5-feet-6 in the high jump for fifth place, while Peyton Erikson had a jump of 35-feet-9 to place sixth in the triple jump.
"They did very good," Ferge said. "All these kids are really, really young and they made it to the finals of the Otto Bacher. This is the most competitive meet we've had this year. It's almost like a regional and I'm very excited about the guys who are putting in the work every week and getting better every week. Have to give credit to my coaches and it was a fun meet."
Girls'
The girls' team placed 10th in the team standings, but several girls had personal-best times during the meet.
The 4x800 relay team placed sixth, adding Payton Hartman as the anchor for this meet. Hartman joined Jade Forster, Lisa White and Gracie Quinn to run 11:22.93, the fastest the team has run all season.
Valerie Dalka also had a personal record time of 14:20.41 in the 3,200 meters.
"Consideringing the competition, I mean there were so many records for the Otto Bacher set tonight, we had a lot of girls set PRs individually, which was really nice to see," RHS girls' coach Brittany Haakenson said. "That means we're continuing to do better, so that was really great. We're still dealing with injuries and all of that, so that's tough. The inexperience and the young team that we have - when you get against some of these Valley schools that see tough competition all year round, is very challenging for the girls, but they did very well and I'm proud of them."
One of the struggles with young runners is getting them to understand that their time is more important than the place.
While the Lady Hodags didn't score many points, they did set personal records, which shows improvement.
"That's what we're trying to instill in them," Haakenson said. "It's an individual competition every week with themselves. As long as they're getting better every week, that's what counts. That's hard for them to see - the whole scheme of things - and when they see losing isn't fun and when you come to these tough meets like tonight, it's hard to see them down themselves. So just telling them they're young and they're going to keep getting better."
The Hodags will take part in the Hatchet Invitational Tuesday in Tomahawk, their final tune-up before the Great Northern Conference meet May 16 in Mosinee.
Nick Sabato may be reached at [email protected] or via Twitter @SabatoNick.
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